What Are My Options When It Comes To Hiring A Logo Designer
Have you ever noticed when thinking of a brand like Facebook, Twitter, Google, McDonald’s, you first think of their logos? Lots of thought and care was put into those logos and it is the job of graphic designers to create that beautiful, recognizable image.
Graphic designers for logo designs can be found anywhere on the internet. You can search for them with job search sites, freelance directories, social media, and even your best friend’s cousin if you search hard enough.
In this article I’m going to cover:
Graphic design costs
How to find a graphic designer
What is the graphic design process
How to work with graphic designers
What can I expect
Frequently Asked Questions
What are my options for hiring a logo designer?
There are many different options from logo design agencies, freelance logo designers, in-house designers, and On-Demand Graphic Design Services.
How much can I expect a logo designer to cost?
The answer is it depends. Your cheapest option is going to be with a Freelancer which charges about $50 Per hour. Your next option is an in-house graphic designer which is salary based with benefits. When using an agency they will charge per contract and the cost can be around $1000 to $10,000 per project. On-demand services are more of a subscription-based and have a monthly fee for unlimited logo designs. They typical cost for their services is $500 per month.
Should I use a DIY logo?
I think that for your first logo it’s okay, but it’s really important that you get that logo redesigned or redefined by a professional once you have a certain audience. I would say the audience number is about 1,000 visitors per month.
If you want to be successful at the start I would highly recommend letting a professional logo designer create your logo. That way you don’t have to come back and revisit and do a rebranding.
Should you redesign your logo?
If you’re a brand new business then you 100% need a logo. You can go ahead and skip this section as I’m going to cover redesigns.
If you’re already a successful existing business, then you have to ask yourself, do you really need a new logo? Or is this something that you want more than need? Deciding on a logo, regardless of what stage your business is in, is an important decision with many consequences and impacts.
Before we look at hiring someone to redesign our logo, we need to make sure that there is purpose in the redesign. We need to make sure that we’re not just looking to create a new logo because of a trend or because a single person feels it’s outdated.
Here’s a couple of questions to consider if the need is there for a logo redesign.
What is the reason you want a new logo?
What do you not like about your current logo?
Is your current logo recognizable and does it stand out?
How will a new logo help your brand in the market?
Is there potential to improve business sales and goals with a new logo?
Does your current logo express truly who you are or what you do?
Is your current logo having a negative effect on your business?
Does your logo work well with print and digital media materials?
Do your organization members like the current logo?
What is the cost if you keep your current logo?
Once you’ve answered these questions and asked yourself, You should have a better understanding of whether or not you need a logo redesign.
Logo Design Cost
This is a huge question that everybody has when we talk about rebranding is “how much is a logo design going to cost?” The answer is it really depends. I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but there are a few things to know when asking for a logo design.
Customers form their first impression of a Brand’s logo within 10 seconds, and for them to remember your brand it takes 5 to 7 Impressions to be continually recognized.
Brand recognition color plays a large part of your design. The use of signature colors can increase your brand recognition by nearly 80% ( like Home Depot’s Orange).
Of all purchasing decisions, 90% are made subconsciously.
Because of these factors, logo design can start from anywhere between $20 to thousands of dollars.
Why Is Logo Design Pricing So Different?
The reason behind this high price is that marketing materials don’t require approval from the head or heads of an organization. These decisions are made by your marketing team on a daily basis whether it be a flier, a social media post, or any other graphic design. If there’s a mistake on one of these items, at most you are looking at a $500 mistake or a deleted post.
A logo design requires much more inclusion of more members of an organization, like the CEO and others in order to get the logo approved. This means that there’s a lot more communication involved, time commitment, and review processes that have to be done in order to reach the goal. Logo design is a very labor-intensive process that requires lots of hours, multiple teams, and multiple rounds of research and revision. If there ends up being a mistake on your logo and you only realize this down the road you have the potential for a much larger monetary value to be lost. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace a brand error in all your marketing materials.
Quality Versus Quantity
Let’s say that you do decide to go ahead and hire a graphic designer for your logo. Your focus is not on quantity, but rather the quality of your design. We’ve seen lots and lots of business owners attempt to create a logo design for themselves to save a few bucks, and ultimately they regret it later having to go through the redesign process.
When we do a redesign of your logo, we’re not just redesigning the logo, but also rebranding your business. Rebranding after having been established in your industry can be time-consuming and expensive to go back and make all those changes. This is without a doubt the single most important piece of graphic design that your company will have. Your logo is a true embodiment and representation of the company.
With such a wide variety of local designers available online, it can be confusing and hard to figure out what the best option is for your logo design. Based on the data that we gathered from micro creatives, we saw that small businesses are willing to pay $500 for a logo 67% of the time.
How Long Should Your Logo Design Take?
The turnaround time for logo design is fairly quick. If logo design is created by a dependable team or a good freelancer, you can expect a rough draft of your Design Within two to three days.
Logo design revisions typically take about one to two days and can have your logo design completed in one to two weeks. The logo design process really relies on being able to have open communication and clear feedback in order to provide high-quality designs that are desired. This can get kind of tricky because as a graphic designer you have a greater understanding of the mechanics involved to creating a brand and when it takes to build a successful brand. We also have to remember that the clients’ needs are equally important to the design of the project. Having clear communication allows us to meet at a middle ground providing exactly what is wanted without delay.
The reality is logo designers can only work as fast as the feedback is provided. Without proper communication and feedback we can’t create the perfect design that you want.
Can I DIY My Logo Design?
Why would you hire a logo designer when you can do it yourself for free? This is the question that many business owners ask in order to save money.
DIY logos come at an added cost later on.
There are some successful DIY logos that I’ve seen before. However, I have also seen a large amount of horror stories. With that, I don’t want to discourage you from doing a DIY, I just want you to know what the cost is.
The cost of doing a redesign later will be much more expensive because of the already invested capital into the previous logo design. Cost to change the logo on buildings, marketing materials, business cards, a fleet of cars, and more are all added expenses when you look at doing a redesign of your logo and rebranding. This entire redesign process can cost thousands of dollars when compared to getting it right the first time. That’s not to say that businesses don’t do redesigns overtime to stay fresh and new. Many people have experienced a rebrand in their lives, knowing it as the Mandela effect in which business logos and names change over time. These are the real costs of a Rebrand.
What To Know Before You DIY Your Logo Design?
Do you want to get it done right the first time? A logo design professional can give you that. A lot of DIY clients experience regret and for the simple fact that their logo doesn’t truly represent their brand.
Pros: you’ll save a few dollars at the start.
Cons: Everything about your logo.
There’s no good way of saying it, DIY logos just don’t work.
Unlimited Graphic Design Services
Unlimited Graphic Design Services allow you to create as many design requests as you wish and get them done in a convenient time. There are many different unlimited graphic design companies that you can choose from.
The services offer a reasonable price for what they offer when compared to freelance designers and design agency rates. These companies often have many different design templates because of the number of clients that they have so they are able to meet all of your needs within the price that they offer.
If you already have a marketing team with an understanding of marketing and some graphic design experience this is a great option. With these Services your marketing team will be able to get access to lots of marketing material and the design option is there. The price and the quantity of the designs that your marketing team can work with is definitely worth the investment.
Pros
Affordability
Dependability
High quality
Fast turnaround time
You can work with the same graphic designers
You can communicate with a real person
Very useful for large quantity of marketing materials
Cons
Can be expensive if you don’t have a need for High quantity of graphic design
What your subscription offers can be limited and can include up sells for your needs
Unlimited Graphic Design Company Works Well If…
You’re a new business, a startup, or constantly need graphic design in addition to your logo design. I can’t stress enough that unlimited graphic design is really for those who have a design team and constantly need marketing materials.
Hiring A Freelance Logo Designer
This is the cheapest and most cost-effective way to achieve your graphic design goals. The cost is low compared to the alternative Solutions. When choosing a freelance logo designer it’s important to gauge how responsive they are and how they are with new projects moving forward. You really want to stick with a professional that you can build a relationship with and have a mutual understanding of what it is that you need. Something to be mindful of when using a freelance graphic designer is to note what is the turnaround time.
With freelance logo designers you’re going to have to do some micromanagement in order to ensure that your project succeeds. This is definitely viewed as a gamble unless you find that dedicated and dependable graphic designer. Your logo design is definitely going to take a lot longer than other methods. A lot of times when hiring a freelance graphic designer you’ll get really good communication at the start of the project. This happens a lot of times because graphic designers simply want to get the work. Once they have your deposit and your commitment, communication can sometimes fade and they can become unresponsive. Some graphic designers don’t really take your input or feedback so you need to find somebody that you can work with closely. Somebody who understands you and your brand. Your style of marketing and how you want your brand presented. If you can’t find somebody who meets those needs and requirements I would not continue with their service. A bad relationship can waste time from getting your project done and leave you with the work still required. At other times what can happen, is you get a person called a yes man who promises the world but delivers nothing close.
Though the cost may be low to start, freelancers require a lot of work from your end to get their job done. If you were looking for a strong relationship that won’t fall through over time, I would highly suggest looking at working with an agency.
Pros
Very affordable
Cons
Communication can be an issue
Delivery times can be unexpected
You can get ghosted
You manage the project
Hire A Freelancer If…
The low cost at the start is appealing to you and if you are okay with putting in the effort to work with and find a freelancer for your graphic design work. If you are looking for a reliable and more dependable source for your logo design, then I highly recommend that you continue to read this blog.
How To Hire A Freelance Graphic Designer Online
There are many different routes you can take for trying to find a graphic designer online. The common way that many people find graphic designers is by posting your job on a hiring board or website. Then review designers who apply for your post. This requires an interview, a review of their work, and a conversation to see if the designer will be a good fit.
Here’s The Typical Online Hiring Process For Graphic Design:
Write a detailed job posting: This is the first step and the most critical step in acquiring a graphic designer. By creating a detailed description of the job you’ll attract more candidates and avoid low-level designers. Before you purchase anything you need to understand what it is that you’re purchasing. Make sure that you know what file types you need your images in and what you need those images for so that they can be designed exactly to your needs. I recommend getting all graphic designs in png, jpeg, and ai vector (adobe illustrator).
Start An Account On Job Hiring Websites: Create your account to the fullest of its extent. This means describing your company, what it does, and what your goals are. Upload a logo if you have it and really try to take advantage of the space that the website gives you to provide as much detail as you can about yourself and your company.
Create A Job Post: Upload your detailed job post to as many job hiring websites as you see fit.
The Vetting Process: At this point you should have received some applications for your job posting. It is now time to review your applications and ask them for their portfolio. Their portfolio should impress you, it should stand out, and it should show work that is impressive to you. If you’re not impressed by their past work then you’re most likely not going to be impressed by their future work that they do for you.
Interviews: Once you’ve narrowed down your applicants you should then schedule an interview with them. How the interviews are run is entirely up to you, but you should have a number of questions lined up. Most interviews are done over a zoom or a Skype call for its simplicity.
Hiring: By now you should have found a freelance graphic designer that meets your needs and that performed well in the interview. At this point you should go ahead and hire them and move forward with your logo design or graphic design project.
What Sites Can I Post My Graphic Design Job?
Upwork
Guru
Freelancers
In-House Logo Designer For Hire
If your business needs a constant addition of graphic design work then you should definitely consider bringing in an in-house graphic designer. A logo design is not a design that would justify this. In the past we saw companies that worked in design such as web design or architecture use these designers. Companies that create a lot of marketing material were the sole users of In-House graphic designers. Today almost every company has a marketing manager and requires marketing material in order to establish a strong presence online. What a designer can add to your company is lots of creativity. lots of energy and fresh new ideas when it comes to engaging the public. These individuals can have a strong understanding of what it takes to reach your target audience.
In-house hiring is similar to hiring a freelance designer. Requiring you to find the right person who fits your organization’s standards and culture. You’ll have to go through the same process of vetting these individuals and interviewing them.
Pros
Control quality
Assignments are more timely
These individuals can add to company culture
Cons
Added member on payroll
Employee health care and insurance costs
An In-House Designer Works If…
Your business model requires a graphic designer or you require a lot of graphic design work. If you just need a logo done don’t hire an in-house graphic designer.
Where To Post Jobs For In-House Graphic Designers
These jobs are going to be found on typical job posting boards that many people are fairly familiar with. That can include websites like indeed.com and glass door. You can also look at using a recruiting agency to hire talent. There’s also the opportunity to meet with local artists at graphic design meetings in your area. for the most part you’ll be hiring somebody who’s local.
Monster job board is also another great site for Branding purposes and logo design work.
You should always seek to widen the search for your job to increase potential applicants and increase your potential for finding a good candidate. We do this so that we can have a large pool of applicants to find one that really suits our needs.
Hiring A Graphic Design Agency
Most businesses hire a graphic design agency because they need more than just a logo. They hire a graphic design agency to create a brand and create marketing materials around that brand to increase discovery and create the marketing story that is your brand. With a graphic design agency comes multiple team members such as a team lead or project manager, a graphic designer or creative, an account manager, and anyone else needed to support the project.
Your involvement is the key to success. These agencies will continue to maintain the highest level of communication with you whether that be calls emails or meetings. They also continuously ask you for information in order to produce the work that you need. There will also be defined delivery dates as promised. Graphic design agencies can also be a great resource for understanding the marketing world as well as how to fully establish your brand on the internet.
Hire A Graphic Design Agency If…
You need more than just a logo and multiple design services. You need the graphic design done right, in a specific time frame, and want to work with an industry-leading professional. For these reasons that is why you can expect to pay upwards of 1,000 to $10,000 for an agency to help with your branding. If you have the budget and quality isn’t something that you’re willing to sacrifice then I would 100% recommend moving forward with a graphic design agency.
Pros
Your brand will be defined clearly
High quality of work
Deliverables on time
A resource for all things marketing
Cons
Most expensive
Requires your full input
Where To Hire Graphic Design Agencies?
All you have to do is Google your city and “design agencies” and you should find a plethora of companies willing to help you with your graphic design or logo design needs.
